Supreme Court Halts Legal Actions on Religious Places Survey

The Supreme Court has directed all courts in India to refrain from making any interim or final orders on lawsuits concerning the survey of religious places under the 1991 Places of Worship Act, which maintains the status of worship sites as they were on August 15, 1947.

The Supreme Court issued a crucial directive on Thursday, restricting courts across the nation from passing interim or final orders in cases involving requests for the survey of religious sites under the 1991 Places of Worship Act.

A bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, along with Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan, focused on examining the legitimacy and scope of the 1991 law, which prohibits alterations to religious sites as they existed on August 15, 1947.

The court also urged other legal institutions to pause their proceedings and requested the government to respond to the ongoing petitions. Additional weeks were given to involved parties to submit rejoinders once the government's reply is filed.

(With inputs from agencies.)